Because of You
by esmtz
Summary: Kelly Clarkson. After having dealt with what he went through being trapped in a safe and drowned over and over again for three months, Stefan is extremely hurt when he realizes that Damon didn't care enough to notice that he had been missing that entire time. They start arguing and Stefan realizes just how bad his relationship with his brother had become.
1. Stefan's POV

Because of You

By: esmtz

It was late at night as Stefan continued walking around the town of Mystic Falls all by himself. He had been avoiding going back to the boarding house ever since he and his brother Damon had gotten into a fight earlier that day and Stefan really didn't want to see him or Elena whether it was them together or them separately. He was hurt. So hurt by the events that happened recently that he couldn't control himself any longer and he just started yelling at Damon when he had asked him if he was ok earlier.

'I still can't believe that he would even ask me that after everything that he's put me through!' Stefan thought to himself angrily.

Even though hours had gone by already since the fight Stefan still couldn't calm himself down enough to head home. After so many hours had passed Stefan started getting calls from either Caroline or Elena and he refused to answer either one of them because he just wasn't in the mood to talk right now especially to Elena. Not surprising was that Damon never once tried to get a hold of him.

'He doesn't care. Damon simply doesn't care about me! All he's ever thought about was making me miserable and it looks like he succeeded. He stole Elena from me, he didn't know that I was missing for three months, Silas impersonated me and he couldn't tell the difference, he started working with Silas and after all of that the one person who actually helped me through my issues was Katherine! Damon hates me that much!'

Stefan clenched his hands into fists tightly at the thought of Damon, his own brother, hating him to that extent. He was even more hurt when he realized that neither Damon or Elena had been the ones to rescue him from the safe. Just the thought of them living their lives together happily forgetting about him was enough to break him.

"What am I still doing here anyway?" Stefan said to himself as he made his way into the woods and away from where anybody could see him, "Silas is dead so why haven't I left yet?"

Stefan already knew the reason why he hadn't left yet, but as more time passed he knew that his relationship with his brother was never going to improve. If it was possible it was only going to get worse. If Stefan was being honest with himself he knew that he shouldn't be angry at his brother or at Elena for not knowing that he was missing.

'I really need to stop finding reasons to be angry at Damon.' Stefan sighed as he started to really think about why he was blaming his brother for not being there for him, 'It's not Damon's fault that he wants to live his life with Elena just like it wasn't his fault that he didn't know that I was missing; he thought I was leaving town. Truth is I'm the one who made him hate me so in a way I guess I got what was coming to me.'

It emotionally hurt Stefan as he reluctantly admitted to himself that it was his fault that Damon was the way he was now. He tried to put himself in Damon's shoes and Stefan realized that he probably would have done the same thing.

"It's not Damon's responsibility to take care of me. At least not anymore not after what I did to him." Stefan said to himself sadly.

Stefan kept walking until he could no longer see the town behind him. He sat down and leaned against a tree as he took out his phone. He had placed it on silent a few hours ago when he kept getting phone calls that just wouldn't stop. He rolled his eyes when he saw just how many phone calls he got from both Elena and Caroline as well as texts.

'Talk about going overboard.' Stefan thought.

He was about to put his phone away when it suddenly started ringing and to Stefan's surprise it was Damon who was calling. Stefan was tempted to answer it but he already knew that it would just make things worse as he let it go to voicemail.

'Wow he actually tried calling me himself that is if it is him.'

Stefan kept looking at his phone waiting to see if Damon was going to leave a voicemail or not. After a few minutes of waiting he instead ended up getting a text from Damon. He couldn't stop himself from smiling slightly as he read what Damon sent him.

" **Where the hell are you, Stefan?** "

Stefan had no intention of responding as he hoped that maybe this would cause Damon to worry more about where he was at. He placed his phone on the ground next to him before looking up at the stars. He kept staring at them for a few more minutes before he closed his eyes and remembered the fight that he and Damon had.

 _Stefan had been sitting on a chair in front of the fireplace as he heard Elena and Damon come downstairs from Damon's room. Stefan still wasn't fully ok with the fact that Elena was with his brother so when he heard her talking to him he gripped the chair tightly when he heard how happy she sounded. It was like a stake to his heart. He didn't turn around when he heard her ask if he wanted to hang out with her today which he immediately replied with a no. Elena looked at him with a frown on her face before turning to face Damon and asked him to ask Stefan if he was ok before she left which only hurt Stefan more because he knew that if Elena hadn't asked him Damon wouldn't have even bothered. As soon as Elena was gone Damon hesitantly went towards his brother._

 _"Are you ok, Stefan?" Damon asked not really sure how to deal with his brother._

 _Stefan gripped the chair even tighter damaging it in the process. He was trying so hard to control himself but after what he had gone through and his brother just not concerned enough to even be really worried about him Stefan completely lost it. He stood up and turned to face Damon with an angry and hurt look on his face._

 _"Does it look like I'm ok, Damon?!" Stefan replied shaking slightly as he clenched his hands into fists in an effort to try and calm himself down._

 _Damon winced not sure what to say to him._

 _"I'm as far from ok as I can possibly get! Do you have any idea how I'm feeling right now?" Stefan asked getting angrier by the second, "I'm feeling betrayed and abandoned, Damon! I was trapped in a safe and forced to drown over and over again for three months while you were here too busy screwing Elena to notice that I was gone! Did any of you even bother to realize that I hadn't been in contact with anyone during that time?"_

 _"I just figured that you were leaving town like you promised you would! As far as the whole contact thing I just assumed that you were too pissed off at us to even want to talk to us for awhile so don't you dare blame this on me or Elena because we really had no idea that Silas did what he did to you!" Damon told him starting to get angry himself._

 _"I would have at least kept in contact with Caroline, Damon! I wouldn't have stopped talking to everyone only to you and Elena because you stole my girlfriend and yes I know that I said that I was happy for you but I'm still not over it yet especially since it's clearly obvious that you care more about her then you do about me! The very least that you could have done was ask if anyone heard from me recently but no you didn't even bother to do that much! You were too damn busy living your life with Elena!"_

 _The more Stefan thought about it the more he realized how convenient it was for Damon that he was finally out of his way so why would Damon even bother to care if he was in trouble or not since he finally got what he wanted._

 _"It was only three months, Stefan! I can't believe you're making a big deal out of this! I assumed that you needed time to yourself and that you would call when you were ready!" Damon replied already getting irritated._

 _Stefan looked at him completely hurt._

 _"You'll wait for me to call but you won't bother to call me first just to check to see if I'm ok? I get it now. All you ever wanted was to get revenge on me by making my life as miserable as you could make it and now that you have Elena you don't need to concern yourself with me anymore. That's why you didn't care enough to even wonder if I was ok. You got what you wanted so you no longer had a reason to pay attention to me. What hurts even more was that you couldn't even tell the difference between Silas and me and even after I got out of the safe you started working with Silas!"_

 _Stefan felt like his heart just shattered into a million little pieces as tears welled up in his eyes blurring his vision. He really had been abandoned by his brother. Damon looked at him worriedly feeling completely guilty as he saw the tears fall down his little brother's face. Damon started getting closer to him as he raised his hand to put it on Stefan's shoulder but Stefan immediately backed away from him. Stefan just shook his head before he ran out the door._

Even though he had plenty of time to calm himself down Stefan still felt emotionally hurt as he opened his eyes and looked at the stars again. It felt nice being in a peaceful area where no one else was around but him and the stars were nice and bright tonight that Stefan felt like he could fall asleep here. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his phone light up again making him turn his head to see who it was.

'Wow I thought for sure that he'd give up after he tried to get a hold of me a few minutes ago.' Stefan thought as he looked at the message.

 **"I swear to god, Stefan if you're not back here within the hour I'm going out to look for you."**

Stefan rolled his eyes. He seriously doubted that Damon would actually leave the boarding house just to go out and look for him. The only person that he would do that for would be Elena. Even if he did come out to look for him it would only be because Elena asked him to so more than likely it was she who was the reason why Damon was trying to get a hold of him. Stefan sighed really not wanting to go back to the boarding house anytime soon. That's when an idea hit him.

Author's Note: Ok so originally this was supposed to be just a chapter long but I figured that it's probably better if I made Damon's POV in a separate chapter all together so yeah. I hope you guys liked it and I'm hoping that my next chapter will be even better. As far as I know this is the last story that I guaranteed had an idea for so if I post anymore stories after this one it means that I most likely had to literally go through episodes just to help inspire me to make another story. So anyway thanks for reading.


	2. Damon's POV Pt 1

Because of You

By: esmtz

Damon didn't even bother to wait and see if Stefan would show up or not as he, Elena and Jeremy left the boarding house to go out and search for him. Elena had already called Caroline and Bonnie asking if they could help them look for Stefan before they left.

"I'm sure he's fine, Damon. Stefan probably just needed some time to himself." Elena said looking at her boyfriend.

"How many times did you and blondie try to get a hold of him and he never once responded to either of you!" Damon replied looking back at her.

Damon didn't want to admit it but after the conversation he had with his brother earlier he was worried that maybe he shouldn't have let Stefan leave like that. Ever since Stefan left Damon was feeling slightly guilty about the fact that he probably should have been paying attention to his little brother instead of enjoying the fact that he got the girl but for the most part he still thought that Stefan had no reason to be angry at him because really how was he supposed to know that Silas put Stefan in the safe and threw him into the quarry? Elena bit her lip before looking away from Damon. She could understand why Stefan was ignoring her but why would he ignore Caroline too?

"He's just mad, Damon. Stefan probably just didn't feel like talking to anyone for awhile. I mean think about it. How would you feel if you were in his shoes?" Elena said before looking back at him.

Damon already knew exactly how Stefan felt except for him Damon had been held captive for five years being experimented on by the people of the Augustine Society during that whole time. If it hadn't of been for Enzo he would have hated Stefan for not coming to save him. Damon gritted his teeth as he kept looking straight ahead.

"It was only three months, Elena! Stefan has no right to be angry at us! How were we supposed to know that something was wrong and besides I was in a much worse situation than he was so if there's anyone who should be angry it's me!" Damon said angrily making Elena look at him in shock.

"What are you talking about, Damon?" Elena asked.

"Nothing forget I said anything."

Damon really didn't want to talk about what he went through and for a moment he even wondered to himself why he was even out there looking for Stefan at all. Elena sighed.

"Well I think the fastest way to find him is for us to split up. I already called Caroline and Bonnie and they said that they would help us find him." Elena told him, "Listen, Damon if you end up finding him please don't be too mad at him. It's only going to make things worse if you guys end up arguing again."

"He's the one who started it, Elena!" Damon said looking at her.

"Whose fault is it that Stefan finally snapped, Damon! Yes I know that I'm part of the reason why he's hurt but most of it is because of you! Don't you think you owe it to your brother to at least say that you're sorry?"

"He's the one who ruined my life! Stefan was always the one who was everyone's favorite! No one has ever put me first!"

"Stefan did!" Elena replied looking at him like she was amazed that he didn't know.

Damon looked at her in shock.

"What are you talking about, Elena?"

"Just think about it, Damon! Everything that he's done for you! Stefan saved you from burning to death, he sacrificed himself for you to get the cure when you were bitten, he stopped you from killing Klaus because he knew that Klaus's hybrids would kill you if you killed him and that's just a few examples of what he's done for you! You may not see it but it was obvious to me that even though he claimed to have loved me if it came down to choosing between you and me it would be you, Damon. It will always be you!" Elena replied with a very serious look on her face.

Damon couldn't believe what he was hearing but in some small part of himself he knew that she was telling the truth. He could clearly remember how Stefan had said that he wasn't happy about Elena but he also was not not happy for him. Stefan had been in love with her and yet he was happy that Damon got what he wanted. Damon wasn't sure how to respond to that when all this time ever since he and Stefan had become vampires all Damon could think about was making Stefan's life an eternity of misery. That's when he remembered what Stefan had said to him earlier making him feel even guiltier about how he had reacted to his brother.

'I basically just told him that I didn't care that he went through what he did. I should've made an effort to actually be a brother instead of treating him like he was just in my way.' Damon thought to himself as he clenched his hands into fists; angry at himself that he had always taken Stefan for granted, 'If something has happened to you Stefan I don't know what I'd…'

Noticing the worried look on Damon's face Elena quickly got his attention.

"Stefan is going to be ok, Damon. Let's just go ahead and split up and start looking alright?" Elena said looking at him with a slight smile on her face before turning and heading in a different direction with Jeremy right behind her.

Damon watched them leave before he pulled out his phone and called Stefan's number hoping that he could hear Stefan's phone with his vampire hearing. Once it started ringing Damon concentrated his hearing.

'Nothing. Either he has it on silent or he's no longer in Mystic Falls. Dammit, Stefan.' Damon thought as he put his phone away.

Damon started walking around town as he searched for any signs of his brother. He wasn't even sure why Stefan was still out this late at night and it was making him nervous especially since he wasn't at the very least with Caroline. He couldn't stop thinking about the possibility that something could have happened to his little brother and the longer it took to find him the more worried Damon became.

'He's fine. I'm sure I'm just overreacting. Watch Stefan's just trying to make me worry that's all I mean after all that's why he was upset earlier because I didn't care enough to even check in on him to make sure that he was ok.' Damon thought trying to convince himself that Stefan really was ok.

After awhile of trying to find him Damon once again tried calling Stefan's cell phone. This time however it went straight to voicemail and Damon suddenly got a sinking feeling inside him.

'Something's wrong. Elena or blondie should have called by now to let me know that they found him. Mystic Falls isn't that big so unless he really left town he should still be here. He wouldn't have left without at least telling Caroline goodbye though.'

Damon decided to call Elena to see if she and Jeremy had found Stefan yet.

"Damon?" Elena asked the moment she answered her phone.

"Please tell me that you found Stefan." Damon said with a worried look on his face.

There was a moment of silence before she finally answered.

"I'm sorry, Damon but we can't seem to find him. We already called and asked Caroline if she and Bonnie had found him yet and they also said no." Elena told him.

Damon was on the verge of panicking as he closed his eyes and tried to keep himself calm enough so that way he didn't sound like he was starting to freak out.

"Damon?"

Damon was quiet for a few more seconds before he opened his eyes and replied.

"If only Bonnie still had her witch powers we would be able to find Stefan no problem." Damon said before he started to feel slightly angry, "Just wait until I find him, Elena. I'm going to kick his ass so bad for making us worry like this."

Elena smiled to herself when she heard him say that. Yes she was worried about Stefan but she had a feeling that Damon was even more worried about him than she was possibly even more than Caroline.

"Damon-"

"Don't say it, Elena. If he really is fine then I'm definitely going to kick his ass but if he's not…" Damon didn't even want to think about the possibility of Stefan not being ok, "…Then I'm going to kill whoever it is that did that to him."

Damon's voice was dangerously low signifying that he was extremely serious about what he was saying. Before Elena could respond she noticed that she was getting a phone call from Caroline.

"I'm going to have to call you back, Damon. Caroline's calling me." Elena said before she hung up.

Damon put his phone away as he waited for Elena to call him back. He was hoping that Caroline had found his brother and was calling to inform Elena that Stefan was ok. He hadn't realized until just then that the sun had already started to rise informing him that they had been out there looking for a good few hours already. After waiting a few minutes Elena finally called him back. The moment he answered the phone he immediately heard Elena crying. Damon felt like his heart stopped beating when he realized why she was most likely crying. He swallowed before he started talking.

"Elena?" Damon asked softly.

"I'm so sorry, Damon. Caroline just told me that she found Stefan's daylight ring and phone somewhere deep in the woods and since Bonnie is the anchor to the other side…she said that Bonnie saw Stefan and that he went through to the other side." Elena told him unable to stop the tears from falling down her face.

Author's Note: Well I thought for sure that the story would be done by now but I guess not. There's at least one more chapter depending on how much detail I put into it so yeah. I hope you guys liked this chapter and I want to thank all those who have read the story so far and have liked it. I very much appreciate it when you let me know what you think just so that way I can have an idea of whether or not I actually write decent stories. It was amazing how much anger I had towards Damon during the whole season 5 that I can't believe that I didn't write anything for it until just now.

Guest- Thanks it's nice to know when someone likes my stories ^_^

karenvarner8- So am I actually that's why I like to put him as the main character so far in my stories.

13nargles- I know right. It was extremely hard for me to find as many stories as I did without them being incest. Thanks for that. I'm not really sure how many more stories I will make for them but I will give it my best to try and come up with future ideas.


	3. Damon's POV Pt 2

Because of You

By: esmtz

Damon didn't say anything for a few seconds as Elena tried to calm herself down. He felt like he couldn't breathe as he tried to comprehend what his girlfriend had just told him.

"Damon?" Elena asked worriedly when he didn't respond right away.

Damon shook his head not wanting to accept the fact that Stefan was dead.

"Damon?" Elena asked again.

"Caroline's lying, Elena. There's no way that my brother is dead!" Damon finally said gripping the phone a little tighter in his hand.

"There's no reason for her to lie, Damon. Stefan really-"

"He's not dead, Elena! My stupid little brother IS NOT DEAD!" Damon yelled as his whole body started shaking.

Elena winced not sure how to respond to him.

"…I'll just see you back at the house, Damon. Caroline said that she and Bonnie will meet us over there." Elena said softly.

"He's around here somewhere, Elena and I'm not going home until I find him."

"Damon-"

"He's still alive and I'm going to find him with or without you guys!" Damon told her before hanging up on her.

As he hung up he just looked at his phone for a second before gripping it tightly in his hand and throwing it away from him. It immediately broke into pieces the moment it made contact with the ground. Damon was still shaking from being emotional as he tried to will away the words that Elena had just told him.

'Blondie's such a liar. Watch I bet you anything that she and Bonnie did find Stefan and he convinced them to lie about them only finding his phone and his daylight ring.' Damon thought.

The moment he thought that he figured that it would be easier to just demand Caroline and Bonnie to tell him where his brother was at instead of continuing to search for his brother by himself so he made his way back to the boarding house. As soon he got there he saw that Elena and the others were already there and that Caroline was showing Elena Stefan's phone and daylight ring. Elena was crying hysterically as she had her arms wrapped around her stomach and was doubled over like she was in pain. Caroline and Bonnie watched as Damon got closer and from where he was at he could clearly see that Caroline's eyes were completely red with tears falling down her face.

"Damon's here, Elena." Bonnie told her making Elena look up and turn to face her boyfriend.

With tears streaming down her face Elena went towards Damon and wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm so sorry, Damon but what Caroline said is true. Stefan's really…"

Elena hugged Damon even tighter knowing exactly how much this was going to hurt him. Damon returned the hug but kept his gaze focused on Caroline and Bonnie who was looking at them worriedly.

"Alright enough with the act just tell me where I can find my brother." Damon said making Caroline and Bonnie look at him sympathetically.

Elena choked on a sob as she realized that Damon was in denial right now that he didn't want to face the truth. Caroline bit her lip as she got closer to Damon and Elena and showed him Stefan's broken phone and daylight ring.

"He's gone, Damon. Bonnie and I found these just a little while ago and Stefan was nowhere to be seen." Caroline told him, "The moment the sun started to rise…"

"I saw Stefan shortly after the sun started rising. At first I didn't think much of it because I assumed that we found him but when Caroline said that she couldn't see him that's when the both of us knew what had happened and Stefan told me what he had done." Bonnie explained as she walked up to them.

Damon couldn't believe what he was hearing. He refused to accept the fact that Stefan had more than likely killed himself and instead he let go of Elena and quickly moved towards Bonnie and pinned her against the wall of the house.

"Damon!" Elena and Caroline cried out as they tried to get him to release Bonnie.

"Tell me where my little brother is, Bonnie. There's no point in covering for him if I already know the truth." Damon told her.

Bonnie just looked at him sadly.

"It's too late for you to suddenly act like you care, Damon. You really should have been more of a brother to him instead of someone who was constantly trying to ruin his life. I mean after all you got what you wanted right? That's why you didn't even bother to realize that Stefan was missing during that time when he was trapped in a safe or even care if you talked to him or not. Stefan told me what happened between you guys before he crossed over. There's no point in looking for him now because it's too late for you to say whatever it was that you wanted to say to him." Bonnie told him.

Bonnie was amazed when she saw how hurt Damon looked just then.

"So Stefan k-killed himself because of…oh my god!" Elena cried out as she covered her mouth with her hand before running inside the house.

Damon found himself unable to say anything as he slowly released his hold on Bonnie. He felt like he was starting to have a panic attack as he went inside the house and quickly went to pour himself a drink. Just as he was about to pour himself a drink he changed his mind and decided to drink it straight out of the bottle instead of pouring it into a cup.

"Damon?"

Damon barely registered the fact that Bonnie had called his name as he quickly downed the whole bottle. Once he was done he tossed the bottle aside and heard as it shattered to pieces.

'Stefan's dead and it's all your fault!' Damon thought feeling completely angry and hurt at the same time.

Damon was angry with himself because he KNEW that he should have been there for Stefan during all that time he spent trying to make his little brother suffer and he was hurt because he realized that it was too late to try and make things right between him and his brother. Caroline and Bonnie exchanged worried glances not sure how they could possibly comfort him without probably causing more harm than good. They watched as Damon went and got another bottle and before he could even open it Bonnie put her hand on his arm to try and stop him.

"Damon, stop. This isn't going to help." Bonnie told him looking at him worriedly.

"I didn't ask for your opinion, Bonnie." Damon replied as he pulled away from her and opened the bottle.

Caroline bit her lip before she started to walk towards him.

"Look, Damon I'm sure you know that Stefan doesn't hate you and that he wouldn't want to see you like this so please for both him and Elena don't shut yourself off. Let us help you." Caroline said looking at him.

"Of course he hates me, Barbie that's why he…"

Damon stopped himself from saying it as he started downing the second bottle.

"…The situation was just too hard on him, Damon that's why he did it. He lost his girlfriend to his brother who we all know were the most important people in the world to him and then they didn't even notice that he had been missing nor had they been the ones to rescue him from the safe. With him being a vampire it heightened his emotions to the point where he couldn't take it anymore. From what Bonnie told me Stefan told her yes he was extremely hurt about what had happened but apparently he also said that he didn't hate you and that he was happy that you finally got what you wanted." Caroline told him.

The bottle shattered in Damon's hand from him gripping it so tightly that he felt some of the glass cut his hand. The small amount of the drink that was still in the bottle was now on the floor and Damon refused to even look at Caroline or Bonnie. Caroline sighed before she looked at Bonnie.

"We should probably go and talk to Elena." Caroline said.

"Yeah, ok." Bonnie said looking at Damon before she looked at Caroline and followed right behind her.

Damon closed his eyes feeling extremely guilty about the way things had ended between him and Stefan. If he had known that Stefan was going to kill himself he would have never let Stefan leave the house. The fact that the last time he saw his brother ended with them arguing it was killing Damon to know that there was no way that he could apologize now.

'I'm sorry little brother.' Damon thought as he opened his eyes his vision starting to become blurry from the tears that were starting to form.

Author's Note: lol wow once again I find myself unable to finish the story. Just like last time there is at least one more chapter to this story. I wasn't planning on this story to be very long but it's already long enough to surprise me that it's not done yet. Anyway I was really hoping for it to be done today because it's my bday and I kind of would have liked to have started thinking about new ideas. As always I hope you guys liked this chapter and I would like to thank those who keep reading this story and liking how it's turning out so far it really motivates me when I know that someone likes it. Hopefully I'll have another update for this story sometime before the end of May so I hope you guys will look forward to it.


	4. Caroline's Anger

Because of You

By: esmtz

Over the next couple of weeks Damon tried his best to forget about Stefan by moving on and constantly staying by Elena's side whenever she wasn't in school. Elena noticed right away that Damon was doing everything he can to avoid thinking about his brother and Elena tried her best not to mention Stefan in front of him because she already knew that he would more than likely break down if she or any of their friends mentioned him in front of him. Having experienced what it was like to have lost her brother Elena was extremely worried about Damon especially since it was obvious to her that he was still feeling extremely hurt and guilty about the last time he had seen his brother. The day they found out that Stefan was dead Elena tried her very best to comfort Damon but he was just so hurt that he stayed away from everyone for a few days. For once she had no idea how she could possibly help him even though she was always with him whenever she wasn't in school.

'I don't think I'm enough for him.' Elena thought as she saw the sadness in Damon's eyes after he told her he loved her.

Damon smiled at her when he said that but from just looking at him and hearing how he said that he loved her Elena knew that he was trying to cover up what he was really feeling. Yes she believed him when he said that he loved her but right now she was certain that he was only saying it because he didn't want to think about anything else. What surprised Elena was how Caroline and Bonnie would occasionally ask her how Damon was. They had never really liked Damon so for them to ask if he was ok was seriously a surprise.

"So he's still upset about Stefan huh?" Caroline asked as they all were in their dorm room and for once Damon wasn't there.

"He doesn't want to show or talk about it but yeah he is, Caroline. Stefan was his brother and after what happened the last time Damon saw him he's never going to forgive himself." Elena told her.

"Do you think he knows that we put a gravestone for Stefan near the boarding house?" Bonnie asked.

Elena shook her head.

"I don't know I don't think so. For now it might be better to not tell him about it considering he's still grieving and this just might make it worse."

Caroline sighed.

"Yeah you're probably right. Never thought that Damon Salvatore would actually care if his brother was gone." Caroline said.

"Of course he cares, Caroline-"

"Yeah right, Elena! The only person he openly cared for was you and he treated Stefan like he was nothing to him! I mean seriously who treats his own brother like the way Damon treated Stefan and you just helped make it worse for Stefan!" Caroline said angrily glaring at Elena making her wince.

"Stop, Caroline this isn't helping!" Bonnie told her looking at her.

"No she's right, Bonnie. It is partially my fault that Stefan did what he felt he needed to do. If I hadn't chosen Damon over him he would more than likely still be here right now so yeah Damon's not the only one grieving and feeling guilty about Stefan." Elena replied with a guilty expression on her face.

Caroline clenched her hands tightly into fists as she was slightly shaking with anger.

"To think that you once called yourself Stefan's girlfriend…it sickens me to see how worried you are about Damon when you should've thought about what was going to happen when you chose Damon over Stefan! Not only that but for both you and his so called brother to not even know that he was missing?! Did you guys really not bother to call him at all just to make sure he was ok?!"

"Damon and I assumed that he'd be too mad at us to even answer his phone! Both of us thought it was better to just give him some space for awhile and he'd call us when he was ready to."

"What a convenient excuse to use when we all already know the real reason why you didn't call Stefan! He was finally out of the way so that gave you and Damon alone time to yourselves. Damon finally got what he wanted so there was no reason why he should call Stefan because to him Stefan was nothing more than someone who kept standing in his way of getting what he wanted and you…" Caroline shook her head, "I can't even begin to understand why you did what you did. Stefan loved you, Elena and all this time you've led both Damon and him along at the same time! Do you have any idea how much pain you guys caused Stefan? Damon was supposed to be his big brother and you were supposed to be his girlfriend! I just…I can't believe he had to go through that with the two people he loved the most. I don't blame him for doing what he did because if that was me I'm pretty sure I would have done the same thing myself especially with us being who we are."

Elena bit her lip and looked away as tears started forming and slowly fell down her face. There was no excuse for the way she hurt Stefan but it wasn't like any of this was planned. She had no intention of falling in love with his brother but in the end that's exactly what happened.

"I didn't mean for this to happen, Caroline! It's just the way things turned out." Elena said looking back at her.

"Tell me something, Elena how would you feel if Stefan did what you did to him to you? Let's say you had a sister and he led the both of you on and in the end he chose to be with her instead of with you who he was currently dating by the way how would that make you feel?" Caroline asked.

Elena didn't need to think about it to know the answer. She felt herself losing control of her emotions as she started crying uncontrollably. She moved to sit on her bed as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"Caroline, stop what's done is done there's no reason to keep upsetting her." Bonnie said looking at her.

"You may be ok with what she did Bonnie but I'm not. I'm never going to forgive her for pushing Stefan to the point of killing himself." Caroline said looking back at Bonnie.

Caroline turned her attention back to Elena who continued to cry.

"Both you and Damon have no right to feel guilty about what happened because you guys were the ones who caused this to happen in the first place! Even if Stefan was still alive how long do you think it will take for him to forgive you guys that is if he does? Personally I would hate you guys for the rest of my life." Caroline told her.

"That's enough, Caroline. Why don't you just go and get us some coffee or something?" Bonnie said.

Caroline was still angry but decided to do what Bonnie said seeing as she didn't even want to look at Elena at the moment and her staying there longer would only make things worse for both herself and Elena. She shook her head as she turned and headed out the door and just as she exited the room she saw Damon standing just outside of the room with a haunted look on his face. Caroline glared angrily at him as she moved towards him.

"Stefan never should have had you as a brother because it's clearly obvious that you don't know how to be one let alone be an actual big brother to him. You have no idea how badly you hurt him do you? What am I saying you never cared. Stefan loved you and what does his big brother do? He breaks him and somehow Stefan couldn't seem to find it in his heart to hate you. It's clearly obvious who cared more and you know what's sad, Damon? It's sad how Stefan, who was supposed to be the little brother, took on the role of being the big brother because you didn't care and you always seemed to get yourself into trouble. You caused him nothing but pain and yet every time you were in trouble he's the one who saved you. That should have been your role, Damon not Stefan's. I don't even know why you suddenly bother to care that he's gone when all his life you never gave a damn about him. All you ever thought about was you and what was going to make you happy. You sure as hell don't deserve to be called Stefan's brother because you never really were one to him and somehow I don't think you'll care because so long as you have Elena the only thought that's probably crossing your mind right now is that you won. Stefan's out of the way and you got the girl. Are you finally happy now, Damon? You made Stefan's life a lot harder for him, you killed his best friend, you took Elena away from him and you didn't even care enough to make sure that he was ok after he left to go dump Silas's body in the quarry!" Caroline said angrily as she looked directly at him, "You are not his brother. You guys may be related but that's not the same thing as being brothers. Stefan probably would have disagreed with me because he loved you but I know for a fact that you aren't his brother because brothers don't do to each other what you've done to him."

Caroline didn't bother to let Damon respond as she shoved past him. He clenched his hands tightly as he looked down at the ground feeling completely ashamed of himself for acting the way he had towards his brother. He knew that he screwed up as a brother but it was hard hearing the truth being told to him by someone else. He already knew that it would have been harder if Stefan had been the one to say what Caroline just told him.

'Elena's right. I'm never going to forgive myself for treating my brother the way that I did.' Damon thought.

Author's Note: Apparently this has turned into a mini story. For me what I consider to be a story at the very least has to have at least 5 chapters which is exactly how many chapters this story will at least have. I really need to stop thinking that I'll have this story finished by the next chapter because clearly I'm underestimating how much detail I am putting into this. As always I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who is reading this and liking it so far. I'll try to post another chapter up before the end of the month but if not then sometime in June.

Guest- Thanks!


	5. Visiting Stefan's Grave

Because of You

By: esmtz

Once the weekend came around Elena figured that she would stop by Stefan's gravestone and put flowers next to it before she went to go and see Damon. Caroline and Bonnie insisted that they wanted to go with her because they too wanted to pay their respects to Stefan. Caroline was still angry but she decided to just drop it because she didn't want to make things worse between her and Elena and really it was too late for Elena and Damon to even try and make things right between them and Stefan anyway.

"How are you holding up, Elena?" Bonnie asked as they made their way towards Stefan's gravestone.

"I'm ok I guess. I mean I'm dealing with what happened but I'm always going to feel bad about the fact that because of me Damon lost his brother." Elena replied looking back at Bonnie.

All three girls were carrying a bouquet of flowers as they kept walking.

"You know it's not all your fault right? It's really Damon's for being a lousy brother in the first place right, Caroline?" Bonnie said turning to look at Caroline who was on the other side of her.

Caroline sighed as she looked down at the bouquet of flowers in her hands.

"…Yeah." Caroline said quietly.

Both Elena and Bonnie looked at Caroline worriedly as they saw the sad expression on her face. They had a feeling that Caroline might have had feelings for Stefan but they weren't entirely sure at least not until Caroline yelled at Elena and Damon the other day which only made Elena feel even worse than she already did as she looked away feeling extremely guilty. Caroline glanced at Elena when she looked away. Despite the fact that Caroline was still angry at Elena she knew that she couldn't really blame Elena for what happened. It wasn't her fault that she ended up falling for Damon and in a way in some small part of herself Caroline was happy that Elena was no longer with Stefan. Elena bit her lip as she turned back to look at Caroline to try and apologize to her when all of a sudden just as they got close enough to see Stefan's gravestone Caroline and Bonnie saw that Damon was already there and they immediately stood still where they were at. Elena looked at them confused before she turned to see what they were looking at. She winced as she realized that Damon must have found out about it when Bonnie mentioned it the other day. They quickly hid themselves from view as they watched Damon just stare at the gravestone with a bottle of bourbon in his hand. He took a drink from the bottle before he lowered himself to rest on his knees as he looked at the gravestone sadly.

"You're probably wondering what I'm doing here right, Stef? Truth is I haven't exactly been able to sleep much lately not that I need to or anything it's just that…I can't stop thinking about what we said to each other the last time that I saw you. Not only that but I can't stop thinking about the way that I've treated you ever since we turned." Damon paused, tears starting to form in his eyes, as he took another drink of his bourbon.

Damon just looked at the gravestone for a few seconds before continuing.

"I'm sorry, Stefan. I'm sorry for not being there for you during all those years that I knew that you needed me but I was just too stubborn and the only thing that I cared about was getting revenge on you after what happened with Katherine. I'm sorry that all I've ever done was cause you nothing but pain. Caroline was right. Ever since we became vampires I have completely forgotten what it was like to be a brother let alone to be an older brother. She also told me that you don't hate me. How is that possible? I mean come on I haven't been an actual brother to you since we were human so I just don't understand how you don't hate me especially after what happened to you." Damon said.

Tears started falling down his face as he quickly wiped them away. He hated to admit to himself that when Stefan left to throw Silas's body in the quarry Damon was actually relieved that his brother was leaving because it meant that he could have Elena all to himself and not have to worry about Stefan getting in his way. In all honesty Damon knew that he was never going to call Stefan which only made him hate himself even more. What Caroline said to him the other day about him not being Stefan's brother was really getting to him at that moment.

'What a worthless excuse for a brother. You never should have let a girl come between you and Stefan in the first place you worthless bastard!' Damon thought angrily as he gripped the bottle a little tighter in his hand, 'He was supposed to be your little brother not someone whose life you wanted to destroy just because a girl liked him more than you! How the hell did you not care that he was in trouble! HE WAS YOUR LITTLE BROTHER! HOW THE HELL DID YOU NOT CARE!'

Damon suddenly stood up and threw the bottle as far away from him as he could throw it. It shattered against the closest tree as he shook with rage. It felt like his brotherly instincts had finally come back and was threatening to eat away at him from the inside out. Elena looked at him worriedly as she slowly made her way towards him.

"Damon?" Elena asked softly as she got closer to him.

Damon winced not having noticed that Elena was there. He turned to look at her which also made him aware that Bonnie and Caroline were there as well. Caroline looked at him guiltily while Bonnie looked at him with concern in her eyes as they too moved towards Stefan's gravestone. Elena quickly put down her bouquet of flowers right next to the gravestone before she wrapped her arms around Damon.

"It's ok, Damon. I'm right here. It's going to be ok." Elena said trying to comfort him as she hugged him tightly.

Damon stiffened for a second before wrapping his arms around her and hugging her back. He hated showing his emotions in front of anyone because it made him look weak which was why he was hoping that he had enough time to hang around Stefan's gravestone before Elena showed up. Damon watched as both Bonnie and Caroline put their bouquet of flowers down right next to Stefan's gravestone before taking a few steps back to look at it.

"We miss you, Stefan." Caroline said making Damon wince.

Elena pulled away from Damon to look at him directly in the eyes.

"Look, Damon I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about us putting this gravestone up for Stefan. I just figured that it would make it worse for you if you knew." Elena explained as she looked at him worriedly.

"Don't worry about it. I kinda figured that you guys would put one up for him eventually so…"

"You know that I'm here if you need someone to talk to right, Damon?"

"I'm fine, Elena." Damon replied looking at Stefan's gravestone.

'No you're not, Damon. I can clearly see just how hurt you really are.' Elena thought as she looked at him sadly.

Elena knew that Damon wasn't the type of person to express how he really felt especially in front of others so she knew trying to get him to talk wouldn't help. She also already knew that there was nothing that she could do to help him because that was exactly what happened when she lost Jeremy. Despite still having Damon by her side the loss of her brother was just too much that she was sure that if Damon hadn't had her turn off her humanity she probably would have eventually ended up killing herself. Elena was really worried because if that was how she reacted when her brother died she was scared to think about the possibility of what Damon might do considering his relationship with his brother was terrible and yet deep down inside of him Elena knew that Damon did care about his brother whether he wanted to show it or not. Elena looked at Caroline wondering if she was going to say anything as Caroline kept looking at the gravestone. Caroline looked at Elena when she saw her staring at her and sighed.

"I guess I'll come back in a little while. It's probably better if it's just you and Damon who's visiting him right now so I'll just go." Caroline said before she turned around and started to leave.

"Wait, Caroline!" Elena said as she went after her.

Just as Bonnie was about to follow after them Damon quickly grabbed a hold of her arm to stop her from going anywhere. She looked at him curiously as he looked at her with a serious expression on his face.

"I need to talk to you." Damon said making Bonnie frown slightly.

"Ok about what?" Bonnie asked.

"Do you know any witches that knows how to bring someone back from the other side?" Damon asked.

Author's Note: Ok so I'll be honest I never once thought that any of my VD fics would even be close to becoming a multi chapter fic so this story has definitely taken me by surprise. To think this story was supposed to be just a chapter long what was I thinking?! I'm thinking after I finish this story I really should take some time to come up with a decent idea for another story if I do at all. As always I would like to thank those who have read this story so far and have liked it because seriously if I didn't have any readers I'd probably take a lot longer to update this story so thanks. I have no idea when I'll update again probably not until closer to the middle/end of June I guess so I'm hoping that you guys will look forward to it.


	6. Wanting His Brother Back

Because of You

By: esmtz

Bonnie simply looked at him completely surprised that Damon was even asking her about that.

"I'm sorry, Damon but I don't know any witches that knows how to bring someone back once they're dead." Bonnie told him.

"Come on, Bonnie you have to know of someone! There just has to be someone who knows how to bring my brother back!" Damon said pleading with her.

Bonnie shook her head as she looked at him.

"Damon, listen to me. Even if there was a way to bring Stefan back chances are there will be some kind of risk involved. You can't just bring someone back without something else happening." Bonnie replied.

"I don't care, Bonnie. I can't just do nothing while my little brother is on the other side!"

"Damon, I think it's best if you just let Stefan go. You guys didn't have a good relationship anyway and trying to find a way to bring him back is only going to drive you crazy."

Damon clenched his fists tightly as he looked at her completely hurt. Just the thought of spending the rest of his eternity without his brother was enough to hurt him emotionally.

"I can't just let him go, Bonnie. Stefan's my little brother and yes I know that we've had our moments but still despite that I always just assumed that he was going to be here. Every time I pictured it in my head no matter what we said or did to each other Stefan was still always here! I never even considered the possibility of him not being here! The worst case scenario in my head was us not talking and he'd go off and do whatever he wanted. I never once thought that he'd actually…"

Bonnie looked at him sympathetically as she saw him struggling with the idea that his little brother was gone.

"I'm sorry about Stefan, Damon but I think you should just move on and spend your time with Elena instead of trying to bring someone back who we all know can't come back and besides I'm sure Stefan wouldn't want you to-"

"You're wrong, Bonnie. There has to be a way to bring him back there just has to! Stefan's not gone forever he's coming back! I'll find a witch who knows how to bring him back you just watch!" Damon told her making her wince before he walked away from her and back towards the boarding house.

Bonnie sighed as she shook her head before she followed after Elena and Caroline. She watched as Elena just managed to grab a hold of Caroline's arm to stop her from leaving.

"Caroline, wait please I just…I need to apologize." Elena told her.

"What's the point of apologizing now huh, Elena? Especially when you're saying it to the wrong person." Caroline said turning to look at her.

She knew that she was just being stubborn but Caroline just didn't want to forgive Elena yet. Elena looked at her with a guilty look on her face.

"I know but Stefan's not here and I wish that I could say it to his face but I can't and besides he's not the only one I hurt." Elena said as she looked at Caroline worriedly, "I'm so sorry, Caroline. I know that Stefan must have meant a lot to you for you to react the way that you did the other day but you have to know that me falling in love with Damon wasn't intentional. I didn't mean or even want for it to happen it just ended up that way. You believe me don't you?"

Caroline sighed having already thought about that and already admitted to herself that she couldn't blame Elena for that.

"Look, Elena maybe if you had handled things a little differently then you did I wouldn't be so mad at you and Stefan would still be here so despite you falling in love unintentionally with Damon I'm still pissed at you because you got what you wanted and Stefan's gone. If you were hoping that I was going to forgive you, you can forget it. If Stefan was still here I'd probably forgive you…eventually but since that's not the case don't expect me to forgive you anytime soon." Caroline told her before she started walking away again.

Elena looked at Caroline sadly as she watched her walk away. Bonnie moved to where she stood next to Elena as she looked from Caroline to Elena.

"I think she was in love with him, Bonnie." Elena said once Caroline was a good distance away.

"Yeah probably." Bonnie replied, "Listen, Elena I'm not sure if you heard Damon and I talk or not but you really should keep an eye on him."

Elena turned her attention towards Bonnie clearly concerned as she looked at her worriedly.

"What's going on, Bonnie?" Elena asked.

"Damon was asking me if I knew any witches that knows how to bring his brother back. I said that I didn't and he didn't believe me." Bonnie told her.

"Is there a way to bring Stefan back?" Elena asked.

"As far as I know I don't think so. If there was a way to bring back someone from the other side I'm not sure who would have that kind of information. I wouldn't even know where to start looking."

"So there's a chance that we can get him back?"

"Elena, there's no guarantee that there's a way to bring him back! I'm just guessing that there might be a way but let's be honest do you really want to let Damon do that to himself?" Bonnie asked making Elena look at her confused, "What do you think will happen if we get Damon's hopes up and in the end it turns out that there really wasn't a way to get Stefan back? I think it's better if he just moves on with his life and forgets about his brother. Elena, you need to convince him to not look for a way to bring Stefan back."

"I'm not sure if I can, Bonnie. Ever since you told us that Stefan was dead I spent almost all of my time with Damon and even then I could just tell that he's having a really hard time letting go of Stefan. All I know is, is that I'm not enough for him because if I was he would have moved on by now. I don't expect him to just let go of his brother because lets face it; I couldn't let go of Jeremy when he died so what would make me think that Damon would be ok with losing Stefan." Elena said.

"It's different though. You and Jeremy have a good relationship with each other whereas Damon and Stefan…"

"It doesn't matter, Bonnie. Even if Damon claims to hate him Stefan is still his little brother and the way that I see it because their relationship was so bad it makes it that much harder on Damon because deep down inside of him I know that he loved Stefan even if he never admits it." Elena told her.

Bonnie shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Elena but it's really hard for me to see that after all the things that Damon has done to Stefan that he really cares about him. I'm still confused as to why he would even want Stefan back. My best guess is that he's so used to making Stefan's life worse for him that maybe he just wants him back because he's not done tormenting him yet." Bonnie said.

"That's not it, Bonnie you have to believe me. You don't see what I see every time I spend time with him. Damon's hurt. Genuinely hurt by Stefan's death and honestly I have this feeling that if we don't bring Stefan back Damon's not going to be ok." Elena said looking extremely worried.

Bonnie bit her lip as she started wondering if Elena was right. After all she did see how he reacted when she told him that his brother was dead and just a few minutes ago she did see him react like he was still really hurt about Stefan being gone.

"…It's only been a few weeks, Elena. Maybe Damon just needs more time to get over Stefan." Bonnie said.

"I don't think he's ever going to get over him, Bonnie that's the problem. I think that he's thinking about the fact that he could have been a better brother but he wasn't and it's killing him to know that he can't fix it!" Elena replied, "We have to bring Stefan back, Bonnie or I'm afraid that Damon might…"

Bonnie looked at Elena worriedly as she looked like she was ready to cry. She quickly wrapped her arms around Elena to try and comfort her.

"Look, Elena you should at least try and convince him that it wasn't his fault. Keep spending time with him and maybe he'll end up forgetting about Stefan but if he doesn't then we'll attempt to do something about it ok?" Bonnie told her.

Elena nodded as tears started to form in her eyes. Once Bonnie let go of her she quickly wiped away the tears that were just about to fall down her face.

"It's going to be ok, Elena." Bonnie said trying to reassure her.

Elena tried her best to smile at Bonnie before she started making her way towards the boarding house.

Author's Note: I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who is still reading this considering I haven't updated in like a month which by the way will most likely be when I update again the end of next month just because it's a pain updating every so often and a month seriously does fly by at least for me it does so hopefully this story is almost at an end and I've been busy playing some gears of war on the Xbox one so I was slightly worried that I was going to end up not posting a new chapter for the story but luckily that didn't happen so until next time I hope you guys liked this new chapter.

Damon'sBourbon1864- Yeah I'm thinking it's because Damon and Stefan probably weren't even talking at the time so Stefan had no clue that Damon had been captured. As for not talking about it and Damon not making Stefan feel guilty for not knowing that he was missing it was because Damon had Enzo who kept him from hating his brother and I don't think that Damon's the type of guy to just open up and says what happened to him unless they got into an actual argument.


	7. Guilt and Regret

Because of You

By: esmtz

As Elena was walking towards the house she rubbed the back of her neck nervously as she started to wonder what she was supposed to say to Damon to get him to not look for a way to bring Stefan back.

'I'm absolutely the last person to even mention to Damon that he shouldn't look for a way to bring his brother back. I mean what is Bonnie thinking? Damon already knows how I reacted when Jeremy died so I have no business telling him that he shouldn't try to bring Stefan back.' Elena thought.

The closer she got to the house the more nervous she felt especially considering the fact that she still had no idea what to say to her own boyfriend.

'Maybe I'm over thinking this. Let's just wait and see how this goes before you start to panic about how he's going to react.'

Once she reached the front door of the house Elena took a deep breath in and then slowly let it out before she entered the house.

"Hey, Damon? We need to talk." Elena said as she closed the door behind her, "Damon?"

When he didn't respond to her right away she got slightly worried as she started looking around for him. To her surprise she found him standing just outside his little brother's bedroom making her wince.

"Damon, we need to talk." Elena said as she slowly made her way towards him.

Damon just shook his head.

"She doesn't understand." Damon said making Elena look at him worriedly, "Bonnie just doesn't get the fact that Stefan is my little brother and that I NEED him to be here!"

Damon was shaking slightly making Elena a little hesitant to say what she was going to say. She swallowed as she wrapped her arms around his right arm and hugged him.

"It's ok, Damon. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere. It's going to be ok." Elena told him.

Damon nodded still not looking at her.

"You're right because Stefan is coming back. I'm bringing him back." Damon replied making Elena's heart start to break.

Tears started to form in her eyes as she realized just how right she was about her not being enough for Damon. She waited a few seconds before answering.

"Bonnie told me what you and her were talking about. There's no way to bring Stefan back so please you need to stop-"

"She brought Jeremy back, Elena so there is a way to-"

"She sacrificed her life to bring him back, Damon! Even if other witches know the spell that she used there is no way that any one of them would be willing to do that for Stefan!" Elena said trying her hardest to convince him to give up.

"For all we know the little witch just didn't have enough magic to keep herself alive after she had used the spell that revived YOUR brother, Elena! I can't believe that you of all people would try to convince me that there's no way to bring Stefan back!" Damon said as he turned his head to look at her in disbelief, "You know how it feels to have lost your brother and you know that the only reason why you ended up ok was because your brother came back! It had nothing to do with me and Stefan being here trying to help you through it. If Jeremy didn't come back you would have eventually tried to kill yourself!"

Tears fell down her face as Elena already knew that Damon was right. Even though she knew that she still had Damon and Stefan it didn't help to console her when she knew that the last family she had was dead. She had no idea what to say to him as she could clearly see the pain in his eyes.

"I know and I'm sorry but Damon this is different. Bonnie brought my brother back because she loved him and she knew that I needed him and she was a witch at the time. She can't possibly help now because she's not a witch anymore and I doubt that you'll get help from any other witches!" Elena said.

'At least not without a price if they did know the spell or at least a way to bring Stefan back.' She thought.

"I have to do something, Elena! I can't just do nothing while he's on the other side!" Damon replied.

Elena shook her head as she let go of Damon's arm and moved to stand right in front of him. She knew that she was going to regret saying this but if it'll get Damon to not try and bring his brother back then she was going to say it.

"I'm sure he's fine, Damon. He might even be happier where he's at instead of being here suffering because of what we did to him." Elena told him.

She tried not to wince at the hurt look Damon was giving her. He didn't say anything for a few seconds as he clenched his hands tightly at his sides. He looked down at the floor feeling nothing but guilt and regret.

"…I never meant for it to go this far." Damon whispered making Elena look at him confused, "I know that I promised Stefan an eternity of misery back when we first turned into vampires but I never wanted it to end up like this. Yes I hated him for always being the one that everyone else chose first and yes I wanted to get revenge on him for what happened between us and Katherine but I never thought that he would…"

Tears started falling down Damon's face as he quickly wiped them away.

"…It never occurred to me that I could push him that far."

Damon was hating himself right then because he knew that he had been hurting his little brother every time he attempted to make his life miserable but he never realized that there was a limit to what Stefan could handle. Elena looked like she was about to say something but Damon cut her off.

"There's nothing that you can say that will make this alright, Elena because I was supposed to be his big brother. I was supposed to look after him not treat him like he was someone I hated! Stefan was right! I didn't care about the fact that he was leaving with Silas's body by himself to go dump him in the quarry before he left town! I should've gone with him just to make sure that nothing happened but no what did I do? I was too busy feeling happy that he was finally out of the way and that I could have you all to myself!" Damon said looking at her with an angry look on his face.

Elena bit her lip and looked at the floor sadly.

"…You know, Damon despite the fact that he knew that you hated him Stefan still loved you. Even when I was with him it was easy for me to see that if it came down to him having to choose between me and you it would always be you. Maybe it was because you were his big brother that Stefan couldn't find it in his heart to hate you." Elena told him as she looked back up at him making him snort.

"Of course he hated me, Elena that's why he killed himself!" Damon felt his heart break when he said that.

Elena shook her head as tears fell down her face.

"That's not why he killed himself, Damon. I think he did it because he thought that his big brother didn't love him anymore or at the very least care if something happened to him. He was probably crushed when he saw just how much you didn't care about him that it probably pushed him over the edge." Elena told him, "I'm so sorry, Damon because I'm also the reason why Stefan is gone. If I had just handled things between us differently then he would still be here."

Damon was completely shaking as he turned around and headed for his bedroom. He couldn't stop the tears that fell down his face as he felt like his heart was breaking into pieces. Stefan had killed himself because he thought that Damon didn't love him?! Once he entered his bedroom he went over to his bed and sat down. He put his elbows on his knees and rested his forehead in his hands. He felt Elena sit down beside him and wrap her arms around him. They stayed like that for a few minutes before Damon moved to where he was in a sitting position.

"Stefan was right, Elena. All I ever cared about was getting my revenge and once I got it I just didn't care about what happened to him after that. When he was leaving town I knew that I was never going to call him because he was finally out of my way which is what I've always wanted ever since Katherine came into the picture." Damon shook his head; letting the tears fall freely down his face as he was feeling completely ashamed of himself for how he had always treated his brother ever since they turned, "I've completely forgotten what it was like to be a brother and you're telling me that Stefan never hated me? How?"

Damon was seriously surprised as to how his brother couldn't possibly hate him after everything that he did to him. Elena just looked at him sadly.

"I think that Stefan just loved you too much that he found it hard to hate you." Elena replied making him wince.

Damon didn't say anything for a few seconds as he just looked at the floor. When he finally looked at her again Elena was surprised to find that he had a determined look on his face.

"I'm bringing him back, Elena and I'm not going to let you or anyone else stop me." Damon told her making her wince as he stood up.

"Damon, don't! All you're going to do is make it worse on yourself by trying to find a way to bring him back! No one is going to help you and even if they did agree to help you I'm sure that they'll want something in return!" Elena said as she too stood up and looked at him.

"I don't care. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to bring Stefan back because I need him to come back so I can apologize to him and try to be a better brother to him."

"Damon, please just let me help you! I'm sure Stefan wouldn't want you to try and bring him back especially if there was a chance that you had to sacrifice yourself to get him back!"

"Well then he shouldn't have killed himself in the first place." Damon replied, "If you really want to help me, Elena help me find other witches that might know of a way to bring him back."

Damon started making his way downstairs still trying to convince himself that he can still get information about other witches from Bonnie. Elena sighed having already known that she wasn't going to be able to convince Damon to not look for a way to bring Stefan back.

'Well it looks like I'm going to have to talk to Bonnie again.' Elena thought.

Author's Note: Well this chapter definitely had a lot more of Damon in it which is always a good thing. If I had to take a guess I'd say this story just needs two more chapters at most maybe just one but I am just randomly guessing and I'm always underestimating how much detail I put into each chapter so who knows. As always I'd like to thank those who are still reading this and liking it so far I'm just hoping that I'm almost done with this story considering it does feel like it's coming to an end to me anyway and I'd rather finish it sooner rather than later but I guess we'll see. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I will update again at the end of next month.


	8. Damon's Stubborness

Because of You

By: esmtz

Having heard Damon walk out of the house Elena quickly pulled out her cell phone and called Bonnie.

"Elena?" Bonnie asked the moment she answered her phone.

"It didn't work, Bonnie. I tried to talk him out of finding a way to bring his brother back but Damon just didn't want to listen to me. He's determined to bring Stefan back no matter what the cost is and I'm not sure but I think he's on his way to see you." Elena told her.

Bonnie sighed.

"I already told him that I don't know any witches that knows how to-"

"I don't think he believes you and anyway I already know that he's not going to stop. He'll most likely ask you to tell him where he can find the witches that you do know of anyway regardless if they know anything about bringing back the dead or not. This is Damon we're talking about, Bonnie. I think you know just how stubborn he can be."

"Well so much for hoping that you could take his mind off of Stefan. I was so sure that he would listen to you of all people." Bonnie said completely surprised.

Elena shook her head.

"He was never going to listen to me when it came to bringing his brother back, Bonnie. Damon knows exactly how I reacted when Jeremy died so me telling him to not look for a way to bring Stefan back made me look like a total hypocrite."

Bonnie didn't say anything for a few seconds as she was still shocked that Damon hadn't listened to Elena.

"…I can't believe that he's being stubborn about this. From what I've seen from him is that all he's ever cared about was you so for him to not listen to you is a surprise."

"When it came to Stefan I think Damon just didn't want to admit to himself that he still cared about his little brother so he did his best to try and cover it up by trying to find reasons to hate his brother. It might have worked for awhile but lately I could just tell that Damon was having a hard time trying to figure out if he should still hate Stefan or not."

"He was probably only feeling that way after he finally got what he wanted." Bonnie said.

"I don't think so, Bonnie. I have a feeling that he's been feeling this way for awhile now though knowing him it was probably easier for him to continue to hate Stefan instead of trying to make an effort to patch things up with him." Elena told her, "Hey where are you by the way?"

"Honestly? Not that far from the boarding house. I was going to go and see if Caroline was alright but did you need me to come by?" Bonnie asked.

"No it's ok. I'll just go and meet up with you. Damon should get to you first so maybe if you and I talk some sense into him…"

"I doubt that it'll work but I guess we can try. I'll keep making my way towards you so I'll see you in a little bit." Bonnie said before hanging up.

It didn't take long for Damon to find her as she watched him make his way towards her. Bonnie shook her head as she saw just how serious he looked from the expression on his face.

"You're not going to take an 'I can't help you' for an answer are you?" Bonnie asked already knowing the answer before she even asked.

"You may not know of anyone that can bring Stefan back but maybe one of your witch friends might know of someone who can. Just tell me where I can find the witches that you do know of." Damon said.

"Damon, listen to me. You're just going to waste your time trying to find someone who can bring Stefan back. First off no one is going to help you because witches in general hate vampires and secondly even if someone did decide to help you they'd only-"

"Yeah I already know that they'd want something from me in return I went over this with Elena already but like I told her I don't care, Bonnie. You don't understand because you don't have a younger sibling but Stefan is my little brother and yes I know that I failed as an older brother but still he was always here despite how often I attempted to ruin his life. I'm so used to knowing that even if we weren't talking I could always go out and search for him just to make sure that he was ok!" Damon said, "Yes I followed him wherever he went to make his life worse for him but that wasn't the only reason why I followed him."

Damon had always known that there was a part of him that still cared for his brother but he had been too stubborn to really let it out. No matter how much he tried to push the feeling aside he knew that he couldn't fully get rid of the feeling of needing to know that his brother was ok. He swallowed as he looked at Bonnie.

"I know that it's my fault that Stefan's gone so it's my job to bring him back." Damon told her, "If I have to give up my own life to bring him back then I will."

"Damon, I think you and I both know that Stefan wouldn't want you to do that for him. He would never forgive himself if that's what it took to bring him back and let's be honest we all know that he doesn't want to come back anyway." Bonnie told him.

"She's right, Damon. You don't need to worry about bringing him back so please just let it go. If you're worried about being alone you're not because you have me remember?"

Damon turned around and saw that Elena was right behind him. She was looking at him worriedly and he could practically hear the begging in her voice. He sighed as he looked at her.

"I'm sorry, Elena but I would think that you of all people would understand how I feel." Damon said making her wince before he turned back to look at Bonnie, "Just tell me where I can find your witch friends, Bonnie."

Bonnie sighed as she shook her head.

"If it's really that important to you I'll make some phone calls alright? There's no need for you to go and find other witches just to piss them off."

Damon gritted his teeth as he started to feel a little bit angry.

"That's not good enough, Bonnie! For all I know you won't make the calls or you'll lie to me about what they said to you! If you don't want to help me then fine I'll find someone who will help me."

Worst case scenario Damon had only one other option that he could try because he had no other way of knowing where to start looking for witches and he really didn't want to have to go to New Orleans to ask the originals for their help. Bonnie didn't say anything for a few seconds before she reluctantly gave in to Damon.

"Ok fine but listen even if you do bring Stefan back he killed himself for a reason. He'll probably just try to-"

"I don't care if I have to snap his neck and then have a witch trap him in the boarding house! He is not pulling that shit on me again!" Damon growled angrily.

Bonnie looked at him nervously as she rubbed the back of her neck.

'I can't believe that it has come to this. I promised Stefan that I would make sure that Damon didn't do anything stupid. So much for that.' Bonnie thought.

"Well the best place that you can try is New Orleans. There are witches there that get their power from their ancestors so if anyone can help you it be them but I'm warning you they really REALLY don't like vampires." Bonnie told him.

"Why does that not surprise me that out of all places that I need to go to to ask for help it would be New Orleans where Klaus is at." Damon snorted shaking his head.

Elena bit her lip as she looked at Damon worriedly. She moved to where she was standing next to Bonnie so she could look directly at her boyfriend.

"It doesn't sound like it's a good idea to go to New Orleans, Damon. Please listen to me! I love you and I need you to be here with me! Stefan's gone and he's not coming back! I can help you move on so please don't go to New Orleans!" Elena said practically pleading with him as she went towards him and put her arms around him.

Damon simply looked at her for a few seconds before sighing.

"I'm sorry, Elena but I need my little brother to come back." Damon replied before pulling away from her.

Elena looked at him in shock as she watched him walk away.

"Well it looks like I need to give a certain someone a call." Bonnie said as she pulled out her cell phone.

Elena turned to look at her with a frown on her face.

"Who are you going to call?" Elena asked.

"Don't worry about it just go after Damon. He's most likely going to leave sooner rather than later to go to New Orleans so I guess call me when you guys are leaving." Bonnie said as she started walking away from her.

Author's Note: Ok so I have no idea what happened during this month because I lost a few followers and then gained more later on so for once I am nervous posting a new chapter for this story. I'm afraid that this chapter might just be a bore to you guys so if that's the case I'm so sorry but this is what I came up with in my head. I'm thinking that this story should be over by next chapter but if not then guaranteed the chapter after the next. As always I'd like to thank those who continue to stick around and read this as I really appreciate it when I know that I still have readers to read my story because it shows that I haven't screwed up the story yet so…yeah. Once again I won't update until the end of next month so thanks for reading.

msblovesdefan- Don't worry Stefan is going to show up guaranteed if not next chapter then definitely the last one. I'm glad you like it so far and honestly I can't wait till I get to write Damon's reaction lol.

AlphaWolfOfRed67- Thank you so much for reviewing my entire story especially since you really didn't have to do that lol. I'm always shocked when I get more than one review at a time especially if it's more than four in total at once. I always love to read what my readers think of the story or even the show in general. I also believe that Stefan could never really hate Damon because the way I see it besides Caroline I think Damon is his biggest weakness.

Skyline-O'Brien- Thanks lol.


	9. New Orleans

Because of You

By: esmtz

Elena watched as Bonnie left feeling extremely curious as to who she was calling. She shook her head figuring that she had more important matters to deal with as she quickly followed after Damon. She wasn't surprised when she found him already in his car ready to drive off. Elena quickly ran and got inside his car before he could take off.

"What are you doing, Elena?" Damon asked looking at her.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going with you, Damon. I know that I said that it didn't sound like it was a good idea to go to New Orleans but I'm not going to let you go by yourself." Elena told him hoping that she could at least stop him if a witch did decide to help him and wanted something in return.

Damon sighed already knowing what she was thinking.

"You're not going to stop me if that's why you're coming. I can't just let Stefan stay dead thinking that I hated him. Truth is I don't think I ever really hated him. I think I was just angry and hurt that I convinced myself that I did hate him." Damon admitted looking away from Elena and down at the floor of the car, "He's my little brother and all I want is for him to come back is that so hard for you to understand, Elena?"

"No it's not but, Damon sacrificing yourself to bring him back is not the answer. I already know how Stefan would react if you did do that for him and I guarantee you that he wouldn't stop until he brought you back. Do you see where I'm going with this? It would just be a never ending cycle until eventually one of you guys will have to let the other one go!" Elena replied looking at him worriedly.

Damon didn't say anything for a few seconds as he simply continued to look at the floor.

"…If it wasn't for Stefan I wouldn't be here right now. He's saved me so many times that I owe it to him to bring him back and it's not just because he saved me but because he's my brother who I had promised to protect ever since he was born. I broke that promise along time ago so I need to make things right by bringing him back for starters and if I'm still here I want to be a better brother to him."

Elena sighed as she looked at him sadly.

"You do realize that under normal circumstances it's too late to make things right between you and Stefan because you can't bring him back. Even now I think it would be a miracle if you could find a witch that would help you. Sure they might know of a way to bring him back but Bonnie already said that witches hate vampires and it's not like you can compel them to help you so unless you have a way of forcing a witch to help you I think it's a lost cause." Elena said.

"Then I guess I have no other choice but to ask Klaus for help." Damon replied making Elena wince.

"That's not a good idea, Damon!" Elena said.

"It's not like I have other options to choose from, Elena! Like I said before I don't care what I have to do to bring Stefan back even if it means doing whatever Klaus wants me to do." Damon said looking at her with a serious look on his face.

It honestly scared Elena when she saw just how serious he looked when he said that. They both knew that Klaus was someone that no one should screw around with because in the end he always got what he wanted. Elena bit her lip hoping that it didn't come to that when she remembered that Bonnie had mentioned that she was going to call someone.

"Maybe you don't have to ask Klaus for his help. Bonnie said that she was going to call someone and that she wanted me to call when we were going to leave. She's probably calling someone she knows in New Orleans to help us out." Elena said looking slightly hopeful.

"Yeah, maybe. If you're going to call her when we leave you might as well let her know now that we're leaving." Damon told her as he started driving.

Elena pulled out her cell phone and texted Bonnie that they were already leaving the boarding house. It didn't take long before Bonnie replied. Elena frowned when she read the message.

"What did she say, Elena?" Damon asked.

"She just said ok. She didn't even mention who we should look for once we get to New Orleans." Elena replied.

Damon frowned as Elena sent another text asking who they should look for. After waiting a few minutes for a reply Bonnie finally responded back.

 **"Don't worry about it just make sure that Damon doesn't piss anybody off."**

"Well Bonnie said to not worry about us finding a certain person and she wants me to make sure that you don't piss anybody off." Elena said making Damon roll his eyes.

"I can't exactly make any promises considering the fact that I need their help. If they're willing to help me then great there's no need to worry about me pissing them off but if they refuse…"

"Damon, please you just said it yourself that you need their help so you pissing them off isn't exactly going to help you it's only going to make it easier for them to say that they refuse to help you." Elena told him.

"…Fine." Damon said not really wanting to jeopardize the one chance he might have to get his brother back.

As they started making their way out of Mystic Falls Elena couldn't help but wonder about who Bonnie was planning on calling especially since she didn't mention a name or at the very least say that she was going to get a hold of a friend of hers from New Orleans. For all she knew Bonnie could be trying to get a hold of Elijah who was the most sensible one out of Klaus's family and he was the one who could possibly help them out with getting help from a witch. Damon and Elena didn't really speak to each other during the drive to New Orleans. For the most part Damon kept his concentration on the road looking completely tense and Elena thought that it was best to not really say anything to him since she already knew that he wouldn't listen to her. At some point during the drive Elena ended up falling asleep in the car and was completely surprised when she was suddenly woken up by Damon who was slightly shaking her arm.

"Wake up, Elena we're here." Damon said having already parked the car and was now looking at Elena who was looking around and saw that they really were in New Orleans.

Despite it being already night time the place was packed with people something that made New Orleans completely different from Mystic Falls.

"I can't believe that I fell asleep for that long." Elena said as she and Damon both got out of the car and she quickly stretched before she shut the door, "So I guess we should look for Klaus and Elijah."

"Yeah but since we don't know where to find them lets just split up and search for them." Damon said as he shut the door while looking at her, "Call me if you find them and be careful ok?"

Elena nodded as she watched Damon walk away. She went around looking to see if she could find either Klaus, Elijah or Rebecca but unfortunately for her there was way too many people around that she probably couldn't see them even if they just passed by her. After awhile she decided to ask people if they knew where she could find the Mikaelson's. To her surprise the first person she asked knew exactly who she was talking about and told her where she could find them. It took her a few minutes to get to the place where they were currently staying at and to her surprise she saw Damon coming from there and heading her way.

"They're not there?" Elena asked assuming that if they were there Elijah would have most likely come with him.

"No not that it matters considering the fact that I compelled a guy earlier to tell me where I can find the witches around here so I know where to start looking." Damon replied as he started making his way towards the cemetery.

Elena looked like she was about to say something but instead she bit her lip and followed after him. It took them a few minutes to get to the cemetery and as soon as they got there Damon entered making Elena look at him confused.

"What are we doing here, Damon?"

"The witches around here get their powers from their ancestors right? So maybe if we're lucky we might just find…"

Damon stayed quiet as he went further into the cemetery making Elena follow after him. After a few seconds of looking around he saw a woman looking at a grave marker. He slowly started to walk up to her making her aware of his presence.

"What do you want? I know that you're a vampire." The woman said making Damon stop in his tracks.

Elena started to worry as she went to stand next to Damon.

"Are you a witch because if you are I need your help." Damon replied making the woman turn around to look at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Uh huh and what could a vampire possibly want from me anyway?" she asked frowning at him slightly, "Are you new around here? I've never seen you around here before."

"We're not from around here. We came from Mystic Falls because I heard that you witches get your powers from your ancestors so there's a good chance that you could help me." Damon said.

"Help you with what?"

"…bringing my brother back."

Author's Note: Ok honestly I originally was going to put Stefan in this chapter but it didn't end up that way so I'm sorry but you'll have to wait for next chapter for Stefan. I'm so distracted by Gears of War 4 coming out that that's all I'm really thinking about at the moment so I'm sorry if this chapter came out bad. I never know if my chapters are good until after I've posted them so once again I feel nervous posting this simply because I was too distracted this time around that I almost didn't want to write a chapter for this month. Hopefully I'll be able to finish the story by the end of next month because seriously I'm 100% sure that the next chapter is the last so I hope you guys enjoyed the story because it really is at the end here. As always I want to thank those who have read and stuck with me through this entire thing because seriously it means a lot to me that I had readers for this and have liked it so yeah thank you followers, favs, and reviewers because without you who knows how long I would have taken to update this.

msblovesdefan-Thank you so much for your reviews as it really helps to get me motivated to finish the story and I understand exactly how you feel when it comes to Damon and Stefan because I get angry too when it comes to situations that you just described. Aw thanks for that because I'm sure that other people have written way better stories than I have when it comes to Defan.

tracys dream- Thank you!

Guest- Don't worry this will be completed even if it takes me forever to finish it.


	10. The End

Because of You

By: esmtz

The woman simply looked at Damon like she couldn't believe that he was actually asking for her help.

"Now why would I want to help you? In case you didn't know most witches including myself hates vampires so what makes you think for even a second that I would even waste my time trying to help you?" she asked.

"Because I'm begging you." Damon replied looking at her with a serious look on his face, "I don't care what it takes I'm willing to do whatever it is that you would want me to do if it means that you'll bring my little brother back."

The woman's expression softened when she saw just how serious he really was when he said that. She turned her head back slightly to look at the grave marker that she had been currently looking at and sighed before turning her head back to look at him.

"Your little brother huh…what did he get himself killed or something?" she asked feeling a slight pain in her heart.

Damon hesitated before he answered her.

"No he…he killed himself. Because of me."

Elena looked at Damon worriedly as he looked at the ground clenching his fists tightly at his sides feeling extremely guilty. The woman could easily see how much this was bothering him as she contemplated whether or not she should help him.

"So you were that bad of a brother?"

Damon didn't say anything as he continued to look at the ground. Elena bit her lip as she looked at him before she turned her attention to the woman.

"Look I know that you have no reason to help us out but please help us bring his brother back. Damon's relationship with his brother was complicated yes but it didn't mean that he didn't care for his brother. Ever since Stefan's death (Damon flinched) Damon's been feeling nothing but guilt and sadness and it's killing him to know that his brother's not coming back! PLEASE you just have to help us!" Elena begged looking at the woman with pleading eyes.

The woman didn't say anything for a few seconds as she just looked at both Damon and Elena.

"…How serious are you about willing to do whatever it takes to bring your brother back?" the woman asked making Elena wince.

Damon looked up at her with a slightly surprised look on his face. He swallowed before he answered.

"I'm dead serious." Damon said and he meant it.

The woman nodded.

"Ok then."

Elena looked at Damon suddenly feeling very nervous.

"Damon, wait-"

"What do I have to do?" Damon asked as he walked a little closer to the woman.

"Damon!" Elena yelled.

"Do you have anything of his that I can use to bring him back?" the woman asked.

Damon quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out Stefan's daylight ring. He held it in his hand and showed it to her.

"I have his daylight ring." Damon told her.

"That'll work follow me." She said as she turned away from them making both Damon and Elena follow after her.

"Damon, please don't go through with this! I have a bad feeling about what she's going to want from you!" Elena told him looking at him with fear in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Elena but I am doing this." Damon replied as he kept following the woman.

She led them towards the area in the cemetery where the witches usually gathered if they needed someplace private to do a spell.

"We'll do the spell here." She told them as she looked around the room to make sure that no one else was there.

"Just a quick question but why are you helping me? You said it yourself that you hate vampires." Damon asked frowning slightly.

She hesitated before answering as she turned to look at him.

"Normally I wouldn't even consider helping you but like you I know what it's like to lose a younger sibling. My little sister was killed by a group of vampires from this city and that's why I hate vampires so much." She told him making him wince as she gestured for him to give her his brother's daylight ring.

Damon quickly gave her the ring and watched as she placed it on the table next to her.

"Just so you know for me to bring your brother back it's going to cost you your life." She said turning to look at Damon making Elena look at her in horror, "How the spell works is that it transfers the life energy from one person to another but if that other person's body isn't available to do the transfer I simply need something of theirs to know exactly who I'm bringing back."

Damon closed his eyes as he had a feeling that it was probably going to end up this way before he opened his eyes and looked back at her still determined to go through with bringing Stefan back.

"You still want me to bring him back?" She asked.

"Damon, please don't!" Elena begged making Damon glance behind him to look at her for a second.

Damon took a deep breath in and then let it out as he turned his attention back to the woman.

"Yes." Damon replied.

"DAMON!" Elena cried out tears starting to form in her eyes and slowly started to fall down her face.

"Alright then I need you to stand next to the table." The woman told him.

Just as Damon was about to move closer to the table Elena quickly tried to grab a hold of his arm and pull him away but he just as quickly pulled away from her making her start to sob.

"Please…please don't!" Elena sobbed.

Damon turned to look at her one last time with a sad expression on his face.

"I'm sorry, Elena but you know that I have to do this. Tell Stefan that I'm sorry for everything that I've done to him." Damon said before he started to make his way towards the table.

Elena started crying hysterically as Damon stood next to the table and watched as the woman put one hand over Stefan's ring and the other on Damon's arm. Just as she started chanting Damon all of a sudden found himself pinned against the wall. To his surprise he found himself face to face with his little brother who was looking at him like he had gone insane.

"…Stefan?" Damon said in complete shock.

Stefan swallowed not really sure about what he should say to his brother.

"Hello brother." Stefan said.

Stefan was completely surprised when he saw a smile slowly spread across Damon's face. Without really thinking about it Damon suddenly brought Stefan into a fierce hug. Stefan was completely taken aback as he was not expecting for Damon to react the way that he was reacting.

"Damon?"

"I'm sorry, Stefan. I'm so so sorry little brother." Damon said hugging him so tight that Stefan thought that his ribs would crack.

Elena sighed with relief as she looked at them but then she noticed that the witch was looking at them completely confused making Elena realize that there was no way that she had enough time to bring Stefan back. Elena frowned wondering if Stefan really had been dead. Stefan looked at Damon guiltily as he hugged his brother back.

"What the hell were you thinking, Damon?!" Stefan asked completely horrified that his brother was really ready to give up his own life for him.

"No, Stefan what the hell were YOU thinking?!" Damon replied pushing him away so he could look at him directly.

Stefan winced when he saw the pain in his brother's eyes. He swallowed as he looked at his brother nervously.

"…I'm sorry. I didn't know that you cared."

"Of course I care, Stefan! You're my little brother!" Damon told him looking at him like he couldn't believe that he had to tell his own brother that he did care for him, "I never thought that I would actually have to say this to you but even if it seems like I hate you I really don't, Stefan. Despite everything that I've done to you I've always just assumed that you would be here no matter what. If I had known that there was a chance that I could push you to kill yourself I would have stopped trying to ruin your life along time ago! You have no idea how much that hurt me, Stefan. To know that I'm the reason why you killed yourself...!"

Stefan looked at him guiltily as he saw just how hurt Damon really was as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Damon, there's something that I need to tell you." Stefan said sighing as he looked down at the floor, "I didn't…I never actually killed myself."

"…What?"

Stefan winced at the tone of Damon's voice.

"…I had Bonnie and Caroline lie to you about me being dead. I convinced them that I needed some time away from you and Elena so they agreed to help me. They said that they would make it look extremely convincing so Caroline did her best to make it look like she was extremely upset before she returned to the boarding house to tell you guys our fake story. I broke my phone and took off my daylight ring to make sure it really was convincing enough." Stefan admitted.

"But Stefan, if you took off your daylight ring how did you get by during the day?" Elena asked.

Stefan turned around and showed her his hand which now had a new daylight ring.

"Bonnie told me where I could find a witch who could help me out with a new daylight ring so until I could get to where she was at I traveled at night until I finally found where she was at and surprisingly enough she was kind enough to help me out." Stefan told her as he lowered his hand.

"…Why, Stefan? Why did you have them lie to us about you? You could have just told them to tell us that you were leaving but instead you have them make us believe that you're dead?" Elena asked completely hurt.

"I'm sorry but it was the only way to make sure that I didn't see you guys for awhile. I wasn't sure about how much time I would have wanted to stay away from you guys so the safest bet was to make sure that you guys thought that I was dead. Knowing you, Elena you wouldn't have just let me go so easily because I figured that eventually you would have either wanted to call me or come find me and knowing Damon he either would have come with you or he would have come by himself just to make sure that you weren't put in any danger. Damon I didn't have to worry about him wanting to find me himself it was you I was worried about so that's why I had them lie to you guys about me. It wasn't meant to hurt you guys it was meant to give me some time to myself." Stefan replied looking at her for a second before looking back at his brother who had a completely hurt look on his face.

Damon swallowed.

"…You really believed that I wouldn't have wanted to come find you, Stef?" Damon asked.

Stefan looked at him sadly.

"Like I said I didn't know that you cared. I'm so sorry, Damon. If I had known that you would have reacted the way that you did I would have just told them to tell you guys the truth instead of making something like that up."

There was an awkward silence between them until the witch finally spoke up.

"So…I guess I'm not needed then after all?" She asked.

"No you can go." Elena told her.

"Ok then." The woman said as she started to leave.

"Hey I'm so sorry to hear about your sister." Elena said looking at the woman who turned back to look at her.

"Thanks. To be honest the only reason why I'm still here is because I want to get my revenge on the vampires who killed her and believe me I will get it." She said before she left.

Elena looked at her worriedly before she turned her attention back to Stefan.

"So are you going to come home now, Stefan?" Elena asked.

Stefan was about to respond but Damon beat him to it.

"Of course he's coming home! If you even think for a second that I'm letting you out of my sight anytime soon you can forget it!" Damon growled as he looked at his brother.

Stefan rolled his eyes.

"Hey at least you know that I'm alive so there's no need for me to-"

Damon glared angrily at him as he forcefully grabbed a hold of his arm.

"Damon, what-"

"You don't get to decide that! You're coming home and STAYING home or so help me I will hunt you down and drag you back home myself!" Damon told him as he started pulling his brother out of the room.

Elena smiled to herself when she heard Stefan start to complain.

'It looks like everything's going to be alright.' Elena thought as she followed after them.

The End

Author's Note: Wow after 10 chapters FINALLY it's done. Um how was this supposed to be a chapter long story again lol. Like always but for the last time with this story I want to thank everyone who has read and liked this story from beginning to end it's officially done so thank you for sticking with me to the end because without you guys I probably wouldn't have finished it so yeah thanks. Not sure when I'll make another story that is if I do so probably don't expect another one for awhile but anyways I hope you guys liked this story. Oh yeah and I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!

Esmtz-aka Erica (Sarah)


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